My thoughts on 'Inception'

My personal response to 'Inception' (2010) was decidedly mixed, even though overall I felt a huge appreciation for being stimulated by something I have never seen or experienced before. The film as an experience is paradoxically quite a straight-forward one, where the main thrill lies in a suspenseful first-person exploration of 'reality'.

At 'Inception's core runs a theme of deception, misdirection that simultaneously is the 'truth' that the surrounds the characters, and a truth that they're chasing. Whilst we have the perpetual reminder of the constructed nature of reality that avoids patronising the viewer with 'what could be', Nolan dispenses with formalities and takes us straight into the world that explores the impact of this from Cobbs' perspective (or is it?). Personally I disengage from a story when characters or the narrator start opining about the bigger themes of life and 'what it all means', especially when it comes as a stock response to a weak third act in a story when all the other obvious loose ends have been tied off leaving the overall story looking a bit paperthin and incidental. Nolan seems clearly aware of these common pitfalls, which is evident from his most of his strongly written endings that actually compliment and expand the possibilities of the narrative significance of all that has preceeded it.

When considering the widely accepted criticism of scant character development that 'Inception's detractors rightly observe, it seems odd that there seems little emphasis on testing out whether this was part of Nolan's intention to reflect the idiosyncratic nature of the dreamscape. When was the last time you felt your dream contained well fleshed-out characters? It could easily be argued that those heralding this as the films' greatest failure are being hugely presumptive about what 'Inception' was trying to be, rather than what it is. Still, if this criticism is what Nolan intended, what stronger metaphor for the film's themes is there than for the entire story itself to have an identity crisis? The concept of narrative closure and causality seems to be the conceptual enemy of 'Inception's sprawling maze, which therefore renders Nolan's defiant ability to still extract a conventional story from this perhaps his greatest triumph.

It's either that, or Nolan needs to stop basking in the glory of his technical prowess and start focusing on how to direct actors, rather than largely relogating the audience' need for emotional engagement to a few poorly edited sequences that half-heartedly tick the proverbial 'character developement' box. I am referring to the plot detail about Cobb losing his wife. The concept was itself moving, the execution felt rushed and amateur at best. For me the greatest missed opportunity was when he and his wife awake from being growing 'old' together. This is the one scene that could have been beautifully depicted (rather than merely referenced), and could have had a lasting impact - much in the same way that the ending of 'The Prestige' (2006) has on its overall story. It isn't as if this was cliché in any way, so it remains a mystery why Nolan refuses us the catharsis of having this scene in full.

In summary, 'Inception' is immensely engaging on an intellectual level, but ultimately emotionally sparse and inconsequential in its delivery to a degree that seems either too heavy-handed (if intentional) or merely an unavoidable recurring attribute of Nolan's intriguing oevre so far. It's a must-see all the same.

References:
IMDB (2011) Inception. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/ (Accessed 7 March 2011)
IMDB (2011) The Prestige. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482571/
(Accessed 7 March 2011)

Bibliography:
Inception; or, Dream a Little Dream within a Dream with Me. Available at: http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/?p=9692